Allentown police were able to track down and retrieve mail stolen from a private mailbox Tuesday afternoon with the help of a sharp-eyed neighbor.

A man in the 2600 block of West Colorado Street noticed a younger man at 1 p.m. taking a neighbor’s mail, police said. The witness confronted the thief but the younger man ran off, police said.

The witness phoned 911 and looked for the thief, whom he spotted nearby getting into a silver pickup truck, police said. City officer Curtis Ziegler saw a silver pickup in the area and followed it to a Fairview Street parking lot, police said.

Two men were in the pickup, but the driver told Ziegler said he had no idea mail had been taken, police said. The other man, Howard C. Giering, 19, of Walnut Street, then admitted he took the mail, which included two checks, police said.

In the pickup, police also found a gray sweatshirt that the witness said the thief was wearing, according to the arrest affidavit.

Giering was arraigned Tuesday night by District Judge Rashid Santiago on charges of theft and receiving stolen property. He was sent to Lehigh County Jail under $5,000 bail.